Emily Sack reviews 'Frank Bowling RA | Crossings: From New Amsterdam' at ROLLO Contemporary Art, London
20/05/2011
Image: Barney’sboon, 2011, Acrylic on canvas.
Courtesy the artist and ROLLO Contemporary Art
Frank Bowling RA | 'Crossings: From New Amsterdam, Berbice to New Amsterdam, New York via Holland and London' at ROLLO Contemporary Art, London
Review by Emily Sack for Aesthetica Magazine Blog
Six years after being elected a Royal Academician, Frank Bowling remains an integral figure in the London contemporary art world. With the current exhibition entitled Crossings: From New Amsterdam, Berbice to New Amsterdam, New York via Holland and London, ROLLO Contemporary Art explores the artist’s recent works. Using acrylic on canvas with a frequent inclusion of found materials, Bowling’s work displays such an intense impasto that the paintings become almost as three-dimensional as sculpture. It is difficult to resist running a hand across the surface to explore the differences in texture between the rough canvas and the heavily layered paint.
Bowling uses colour and form in a style reminiscent of the Abstract Expressionists. The exhibition contains two main categories of paintings – one series employs splattered paint application and the other includes a strong vertical or horizontal line as the primary feature of the work. Chance may appear to be the fundamental consideration in the production of these paintings; however, the artist includes ... [read the full article on the Aesthetica Magazine Blog].
Image: Barney’s Boon, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 28 x 32 inches. Courtesy the artist and ROLLO Contemporary Art
Crossings: From New Amsterdam, Berbice to New Amsterdam, New York via Holland and London is on show at ROLLO Contemporary Art until 1 July.
Emily Sack is a candidate for the MA in Art History at Richmond the American International University in London.
Aesthetica engages with contemporary art, contextualising it within the larger cultural framework. For further information, please visit the Aesthetica Magazine website.
Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1154.aspx
